Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Thursday February 21, 2013

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday February 21, 2013:

:

LINN Energy

, LinnCo

and Berry Petroleum

announced Thursday, the signing of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which LINN and LinnCo will acquire all of Berry's outstanding shares for total consideration of $4.3 billion, including the assumption of debt. Under the terms of the agreement, LinnCo has agreed to issue 1.25 common shares for each common share of Berry outstanding prior to the merger. The consideration to be received by Berry shareholders is valued at $46.2375 per Berry share based on LinnCo's closing price as of February 20, 2013. The transaction is expected to close by June 30, 2013. Berry Petroleum closed at $46.05 Thursday, a gain of 19% on 19 times average volume.

:

KKR

is said to be offering $75 per share to acquire Gardner Denver

, according to a report from

. A reported $4 billion deal with SPX

fell apart in late December and interest in a deal has been said to be waning in recent weeks. A KKR spokepserson was not able to confirm the report, saying the company does not comment on these matters. An Office Depot spokesperson was not available for comment. Gardner Denver closed at $67.47 Thursday, but traded as high as $76.31 after-hours.

:

Compuware

is reportedly exploring a sale, according to

. The report mentions Blackstone Group

and TPG Capital as potential buyers. Compuware's Board of Directors rejected an $11 per share bid from Elliott Management on January 25. A Compuware spokesperson reiterated the January 25 statement that "the board will carefully review and evaluate any credible offer it receives." Compuware closed at $11.81 Thursday, a gain of 1.5% on higher than average volume.

:

A note from Sterne Agee Thursday, Said Columbia Sportswear

was a potential takeover chatter of PVH

and VF Corp

. A spokesperson for Columbia Sportswear declined comment on the note. Columbia Sportswear closed at $56.99 Thursday, a gain of 6% on almost 3 times average volume.

:

Harris Teeter

was reported Thursday to be getting the attention of Ahold, Dutch owner of the Stop & Shop supermarket chain, according to

. The report says that Ahold has contacted Harris Teeter adviser JP Morgan, though there has been no formal bid. Ahold was one of several potential buyers first mentioned on February 13, along with Kroger

and Publix. Harris Teeter closed at $42.12 Thursday, gain of 1.5% on twice average volume.